Guide-signal for automobiles.



El Al GUIDE SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

1,1 54 I A mcmon' me? mus. m4. patente-dsept. 21 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

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.E. A. WALZ,1n.

GUIDE SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION r1150 JULY 28. 1914.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. A. WALZ, In. GUIDE SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOB|LES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 28, 1914.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

EDGAE A. WALZ, JR, OF NEW YORK,

GUIDE-SIGNAL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed July 28, 1914. Serial No. 853,749.

To all whom it may concern F Be it known that I, EDGAR A. WALz,'Jr.,citizen of the United-States, residing at New York, in the county of NewYork and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Guide-Signals for Automobiles, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to new anduseful' improvements in directionsignaling systems for vehicles and more particularly for self-propelledvehicles, the primary object of my invention being the provision of anextremely simple and eflicient form of direction signaling system of thevisualtype, in which the signals are given by the selective lighting ofone or more of a plurality of lights.

A still further object of my invention consists in so constructing therear signal housing and the lights in itthat it may be utilized as atail light and license tag light.

Another advantage of considerable importance which I aim to achieve isthe provision of transparent glasses or bulls eyes for the signal lightsof such a nature that there can never be any question as to whether thelights arelighted or not, due to reflections from theside lights of astreet and further so constructed that the light shining through themwill be sufiiciently bright to be clearly seen at a distance of over a.hundred .feet, even in broad day light, this arrangement permitting theuse of.the signaling system by day as well as by night. a

With these and other objects in View, my invention will be more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then morespecifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form apart of this a plication.

p In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a motor vehicle,showing my improved signaling system installed thereon, this view beinglargely diagrammatic, its

sole purpose being to disclose the preferred place; Fig. 6 is ahorizontal sectional view,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 21, 1915. I

corresponding to that shown in Fig. 3, of

the forward signal housing; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view takenthrough one of the glasses or bulls eyes, showing the manner of treatingit to adapt it for use with my slgnallng system; Fig. 8 is adiagrammat1c view of the wiring of the system.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters,

The preferred embodiment of my inven tion includes a combined rearsignal device, tail light and license tag support, indicated as a wholeby the numeral, 10 and-adapted to be attached at any suitable point tothe rear of a vehicle 11, a forward signal device 12 adapted to bemounted at any suitable point near the front of the machine, preferablynear the forward end of one of the front mud guards, a storage battery13 or other suitable source of electrical energy for energizing thelights of the signals, a buzzer 14 and its controlling relay 15 includedin the circuits of the signals, and the control buttons 16 and 17,preferably mount 7 ed upon the steerin wheel 18 of the vehicle andcontrolling the signal-circuits.

My improved combination rear signal device, tail light and license tagsupport, as best shown in Figs. 2 to 4L of the drawings, includes acasing 19, preferably substantially rectangular in shape and generallyformed of sheet metal suitably enameled or coated to present a neat andornamental appearance and to protect'it from rust or corrosion. Thiscasing carries at its back one or more fastening devices 20 of anysuitable character for securing the rear signal device to bracketscarried by the rear of the vehicle and is closed at its front'bya cover21 hingedly secured along its lower edge to the bottom wall of thecasing, as shown at 22 and. normally held in closed position by a springcatch 23.

' Extending longitudinally of the bottom wall of the casing 19 andspaced from its front edge is a slot 24 and mounted immediately at therear of this slot is a bracket 25 of any suitable character to supportthe license tag 26. Mounted substantially centrally of the casing is ,abracket 27 arranged to receive an electric light bulb-28 which,

as will be later explained, constitutes a tail light for the vehicle andwhich, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is disposed directly above the slot 24in order that its light may be cast downwardly across the forward faceof the license tag. The front wall or cover 21 of, the housing-isprovided, inhorizontal aliner'nent with this light bulb 28, with anopening 29 to receive the glass plate or bulls eye 30 through which thelight 28 will be displayed. This bulls eye is preferably concavo-convexin order that the light may pass uniformly through all portions of itand is, of course, formed of ruby glass.

At either side of the bracket 27 are located brackets 31 each of whichsupports a parabolic reflector'32 fitted to receive electric light bulbs33 and 34, the former being located at the right of the housing and thelatter at the left. The front wall or cover 21 of the casing is providedin horizontal alinement with these bulbs with circular openings andabout these openings and slightly spaced therefrom with inwardlydirected peripheral flanges 35 to receive and support the edge portionsof the glasses or bulls eyes 36 which are mounted in the openings in theusual or any preferred manner. At this point it should be noted that theforward edges ofthe parabolic reflectors 32 carry forwardly extendingrings 37 adapted, when the cover is closed, to project at their forwardedges within the flanges 35, engaging such flanges snugly in such amanner that each reflector and bulls eye, in effect, forms asubstantially light proof housing for the light bulb which they inclose.The reflectors have peripheral outwardly directed flanges and theshutter rings have similar flanges, indicated by the numerals 37' and 37respectively, by means of which the rings are secured to the reflectors.Because of this arrangement, the lighting of any one of the three lightsabove described will not, by any chance, cause transmission of lightthrough any bulls eye other than its own.

As shown in the drawings, the bulls eyes 36 are concavo-convex for thesame reason as that given for so forming the bulls eye 30, and as shownin Fig. 2, oppositely pointing arrows or other directionindicatingsymbols 38 are formed upon them. These bulls eyes are of rubyglass and for use in my signaling system are treated in the manner bestillustrated in Fig. 4 in which the bulls eye proper or glass portion isindicated by the numeral 36. The arrow or other symbol is first outlinedupon the inner face of the glass and all of the inner remaining surfaceof the glass is then painted with a coat ofred paint 39 which, when dry,is covered with a coat of white paint 40. It will therefore be seen thatportions of the bulls eyes are left uncovered with paint to permit freepassage of light, while other portions are given a substantially bols.

opaque coating to prevent passage of light, for which reason theuncoated parts, when the lights are lighted, will stand out clearly toview. B The inner coat of white paint reflects light cast upon it backagainst the parabolic reflectors of the lights from which it is againreflected, thus increasing the hrilliancy or power of the light passingthrough the uncoated portions of the bulls.

relatively high candle power for the signaling system, it is possiblewith the above construction to transmit suflicient light through theoutlined symbols of the bulls eyes to give clear signals even in broadday iight and at a distance of over a hundred eet.

Referring more specifically to Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, it will beseen that the forward'signal housing 12 is substantially identical inconstruction with the rear sig nal housing with the exception that theopening 29,'bulls eye 30 and light 28 are omitted, as also is the slotin the bottom of the casing. The casing proper 41 is provided with ahinged front wall or cover 42 held in closed position by a spring catch43 and carrying the bulls eyes 44 behind which are mounted the electriclight bulbs 45 and 46, the former being located at the left and thelatter at the right of the housing. These lights are, of course,supported by and inclosed in parabolic reflectors 47 having shutterrings 48 engaging the inwardly directed flanges 49 about the bulls eyeopenings, when the cover is closed, to prevent diffusion of light fromeither light bulb to the other bulls eye. The bulls-eyes are, of course,formed in the same manner as the bulls eyes 36, previously described andprovided with corresponding signal sym- In explaining the wiring'of myimproved signal system, reference being had to Fig. 8 of the drawings,the separate lamps there shown will be understood as emblematic of thevarious light bulbs, previously described,

and 46, constituting a portion of a common return circuit for suchlights, while a wire similarly connects the lights 33 and 45.

rReturn wires 56 and 57 lead from the wires 5 54 and 55 to the pushbuttons 17 and 16, re-

spectively, and a wire 58 leads from the push button 16 to one terminalof the relay 15, a wire 59 leading from the push button 17 to the wire58. A wire 60 leads from the other terminal of the relay to the negativepole of the storage battery 13. A wire 61 leads from this wire 60 to thetail light 28 and includes a manually operable switch 62 by means ofwhich the lighting of thetail venient part of the vehicle. As shown inFig. 8, the relay includes an electro-magnet 63 having an armature 64normally held from the pole of the magnet by an adjustable spring 65 andmovable upon sufficient energization of the magnet to engage a contact66 included in the circuit through therelay. This armature forms aportion of the buzzer circuit, a wire 67 leading from the armature tothe buzzer 14 and a wire 68 leading from the buzzer to the feed wire 50.

Although I have described the above wir ing system in all its details,it will of course be understood that the greater portion of such detailsare immaterial and that departures from this wiring system may be madeproviding the same results may be obtained without in any way departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

The foregoing description, particularly when taken in connection withthe drawings, is believed to constitute such a clear disclosure of myinvention as will render any detailed description of its operationunnecessary. Should the driver of the vehicle wish to turn to the right,he will close the circuit through the push button 16, under whichconditions, current will flow from the battain of the leads of this wireto the lights 33 and 45, from these lights to the return wires 55, 57and 58 through the relay 15 and backto the battery. On the other hand,if the driver wishes to turn to the left, he will close the circuitthrough the push button 17 when the circuit from the battery through thewires 50 and 51 and certain leads of the wire 51 to the lights 34 and46, through the return wires 54, 56 and 58 and through the relay andwire 60 back to the battery will be formed. If, on the other hand, thedriver wishes to stop or reverse the car, he will close both thedescribed circuits by simultaneously operating both push buttons. Itshould be noted that current will, at all times, pass to the tail light28, unless its separate controlling switch 62 is open. As above setforth, the clrcults for both light may be controlled, this switch beinglocated upon the dash or at any other contery through the wire 50, wire51 and oer the lights at the right and the lights at the left passthrough the relay 15. This relay is so adjusted that the passage ofsuflicient current to energize the two lights in either circuit willcause sufficient current to pass through the relay to make it attractits armature and so sound the buzzer. On the other hand, if less currentpasses through either circuit, the relay will not be closed and thebuzzer will remain' silent. The

driver can, therefore, always tell whether,

claims without departing from the spirit of my. invention. For instance,although I have described the bulls eyes as made of ruby glass and inconcavo-convex form, I may wish to use colored glass of different colorsand shades and either straight or bent, treated with coats of paint asdescribed. Furthermore, some other signaling device may be substitutedfor the buzzer. Again, either the front or rear signaling device may beemployed independently of the other or the front signaling device or adu plicate of it may be employed at the rear in connection with theusual rear light and license number. Having thus described theinvention, what is claimed as new is:

1. Ina direction indicator for vehicles, a casing, spaced-transparentbulls eye set in openings in the front wall of the casing, in

wardly directed flanges surrounding the bulls eyes, reflectors mountedin the casing, one at the rear of each bulls eye and projecting closelywithin the adjacent flange to form with the bulls eye a substantiallylight proof chamber, and an electric light bulb mounted within eachreflector, each bulls eye being formed of colored glass with a portionof its inner face coated with an inner layer of paint of the color ofthe glass and an outer layer of whitepaint.

2. A direction indicator for vehicles including a casing open at itsfront, a hinged closure for the casing provided with spaced circularopenings, inwardly directed flanges surrounding the openings, bulls eyesmounted in the openings with the flanges projecting inwardly beyondthem, reflectors mounted in the casing and having peripheral outwardlydirected flanges adapted, when the closure is shut, to be spaced fromthe inwardly directed flanges thereof, llghts mounted in the reflectors,and shutter rings having body portions adapted to seat wlthin theinwardly directed flanges of the closure when the latter is shut andhaving outwardly directed peripheral flanges secured to the outwardlydirected-flanges of the reflectors, the-shutter rings being free ofconnection except with the reflectors, whereby the closure may be openedand shut without affecting the reflectors or lights therein.

' light in the casing to project its rays through the bulls eye, thebull's eye being formed of colored glass with a portion of its innei'face coated with overlying layers of paint of different colors, theouter layer being a reflector of light.

4; In a direction indicator for vehicles, a casing, a transparent bullseye set in an opening in one wall of the casing, and a light in thecasing to project its rays through the bulls eye, the bulls eye beingformed of colored glass with a portion of its inner face coated withoverlying layers of paint of 5. In a direction indicator for vehicles,:1

casing, a transparent bulls eye set in an opening in one wall of thecasing, and a light in the casing to project its rays through the bullseye, the bulls eye being formed of colored glass with a portion of itsinner face coated with overlying layers of paint of different colors,the outer layer of such paint being white and the innerlayer of suchpaint being the color of the glass employed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDGAR A. WALZ, JR. m

Witnesses: i

T. C. WALz, JOHN A. Summary.

